Catching Up

Well, been a couple of days, so I need to catch up. Work wasn't too busy, but with doing the "Friday close/Saturday open", it made for one tired pup! Glad I got to leave work just when things were really getting busy both Sat. & Sun. I'm off now until 10 p.m. Weds. night. Going to work an overnight on Weds. with one of my co-workers to clean our checklanes inside and out. The dust bunnies will be running! I'll probably need to remember to take a nice Benadryl when I get home. Don't want to take it before because I will fall asleep on a checklane if I take it before a 10 p.m.-6:30 a.m. shift. Afterward will be okay, though, because I'll want to be sure I get some sleep before going in to close on Thurs. at 3:30! I'm off this coming weekend, too, and I get to spend it at home in Columbus. Got a list of stuff I'd like to accomplish around the apartment, too!

Currently up north with Dad and Dogzilla. Thought Dogzilla was going to have a heart attack when I arrived. Dad was in the kitchen having a graham cracker snack when I showed up, and between the two events, Dogzilla could hardly contain himself! We took a nice walk once the graham crackers were put away. Dogzilla seems to be doing very well between the warm-ish weather and the aspirin routine. He can jump up in bed with Dad all by himself, but I think he just LIKES having me lift him in. Not spoiled at all, that hound.

Will be doing plenty of walking with Dogzilla the next couple of days, which will do us both good. I've still got baby carrots for snacks, which will also be good for us both! I plan to do some crunches, pushups and squats today. Ought to be interesting getting on the floor for crunches. Mr. Curiousity will think I am playing!

Recipe Recommendation and Other Stuff

Recipe for Crispy Szechuan Orange Beef with Broccoli from Recipezaar is a keeper. Admittedly, I mostly used it to get an idea about what to put together for the sauce and I tweaked it a bit, too, but the basic idea I'm keeping. Original recipe used some sugar in the sauce, and I substituted orange juice concentrate and added a shot of sriracha chili sauce. I also omitted the water chestnuts. I scaled it back to make two servings, too, so in addition to being dinner tonight, it will be lunch another day. Tomorrow will either be Szechuan Green String Beans or Ma Po Tofu. Note to self: having an appropriately sized pan to cook in makes a difference when it comes to stir-frying, apparently. I must not feel the need to fill the pan! That's a good thing.

Recipezaar is a current fave site, too. Search on about anything and they come up with recipes. I pulled a couple of interesting ones that I'll try later. One is for a chicken dish from DR Congo and the other is a spicy African peanut soup.

Going to go lift some weights and then vaccum. At least to get up the BIG hunks! On my "to do" list is sorting out the stuff on the table in the dining room and the accumulated debris around the table!

I am feeling very positive about how quickly certain habits have returned. We are putting all the candy in our office into the break room so that it doesn't end up on our behinds. This will take care of a problem area for me quite handily and it will make lots of co-workers quite happy. I am pleased that most of the time, I feel like cooking and eating healthy. Right now it's like I hear the voice saying "You're full". I am glad that I feel like doing stuff to keep me busy, too, even at home. It's a very good thing to want to add to moving around at work, and I am surrounded by people who have non-sedentary jobs that feel the same way. Very different from an office environment, where everyone is fired up until about St. Patrick's Day on the health/fitness front. Heck, we all hafta be able to buy our spring khakis at work now, and this is the time, in retail, where you take the downtime on the business side at this time of year to focus on getting things reorganized and cleaned up again. That dovetails very nicely with my life right now.
Which reminds me. I brought home my $1 organizer/calendar book, so I am going to start using it. I also got a perfectly good wall calendar for .99 at Big Lots yesterday when Dad and I stopped after dinner. It's not the fat, thick paper that they use for the $8.00+ calendars, but it is certainly good enough to hang on my kitchen wall. I will be looking at lighthouses this year.

A Day With Dogzilla

No, this isn't Dogzilla, but it could be his sleepy twin! Dogzilla started checking to see if it was breakfast time at 2:45 a.m. today. Fortunately, he was quite content to be told "No, it's too early," and go back to sleep. He didn't even want the usual trip outside. He curled up in the recliner until 3:30 a.m., and then I put him in bed with me until about 4:45. We took a couple of nice walks around the yard today, too. I'm doing hand weights this evening in front of the TV when I get home. Dad and I are going to dinner around 3:30 (the joys of dining with a senior citizen! LOL), then I'll pack up and head home. I got his Christmas stuff put away and carved up the ham, which has been vaccum packaged and put in the freezer. Meals for the week will include Orange Beef with Broccoli and Ma Po Tofu. I am going to get my Yoga Zone tapes out, too. That will be a nice inclusion to my fitness routine, especially now that I have a space in the living room to do yoga again! Making a list of things I want to accomplish when I am off the weekend of Jan. 13/14. Time to tackle some early spring cleaning projects! Currently reading through a Prevention magazine book on diet and exercise that Dad has. I think I will just take it with me. I don't think he'll miss it. Recent favorite cookbook: Gordon Ramsey Makes It Simple. I want to own this book.

Day 2

Ah, some much needed time off. Not that yesterday was that awful at work. Things are definitely starting to slow down, and we all need it. The seasonal hires are starting to disappear gradually and the "regulars" are all definitely ready for a quieter month or two after the hectic holiday season. Actually, most of us "regular" employees are well and truly tired of the general public! I know I am looking forward to using some vacation time this month.

Did laundry this morning before heading to Dad's for a couple days. Brought some leftovers for lunch and stopped at the store to get a couple things before I arrived. Once I got to Dad's, Dogzilla (real name "Costello", although I have never figured out if he was named after Lou or Elvis...he's a rescue beagle, so I'm betting on Lou for the comedy factor) wanted walking, of course. It was a little drizzly, but I took him on a tour of the housing development across the street. We also surveyed the yard and the shopping plaza today, so he is a happy little camper. He's in sleeping with Dad now. Probably going to get up at 4:30 tomorrow a.m., knowing him.

Tomorrow I am going to do some upper body weight exercises, in addition to walking the dog. Also plan to take down the Christmas stuff here at Dad's and stow it for another year. I'm sure to have a furry helper. I praised him for letting Baby Jesus remain in the nativity for yet another year. I am always sure that THIS will be the year the beagle can't resist consuming the little figure of the infant Jesus!

It's nice to feel back in control of food again. Not that it got completely outta hand over the holidays, but it's nice to want vegetables and fresh fruit and lean protein and whole grain products. I'm living out of my pantry for a few weeks. It will clean things off the shelves and out of the freezer, save a few pennies and should be pretty healthful at the same time. Except for those little holiday Twix bars. I'm only human, for God's sake.

Going to plan out some menus tomorrow. I want to try this for a few weeks to establish a routine. I think it will be important to my success this year at shedding pounds and keeping them off. For now, though, I am just killing time until "No Reservations" comes on the Travel Channel at 10.

It's a Beginning....

The air feels different this morning. The sun is shining. It's a brand new year and it just feels like a weight has shifted somewhere in the cosmos. Welcome to 2006!

My house is a wreck. From LAST year, mind you. But this year, I am going to get things all straightened back around. I'm going to clear out all the junk mail, get the important stuff sorted out and filed, and have a spare room that is once again fit for company. My own personal "Clean Sweep".

I live a retail life. I like it. It's something I'm good at. I even like the general chaos and insanity of working for a mass-market discount retailer during the holidays. Now I'm ready for a little downtime to bounce back and recover.

A list of things I want to do this year, in no particular order:
1. Get addresses put on my computer.
2. Finish assembling a family cookbook.
3. Get the junk out of the spare room
4. Get the junk out of my closet. Again. For about the sixth time.
5. Reorganize my kitchen. Again.
6. Make the time to chat with my brother on a regular basis. Dad's not getting any younger, and when he is gone, Mark will be my family. I want that bond between us a bit stronger.
7. Get a haircut. I can't stand having it this long any more.
8. Go to the KD Mini Marathon. Friends are planning to run it, and even though I won't be ready to run it or walk it, I want to see my friends.
9. Yes, I walk a lot as a cashier supervisor every day, but I want to add to my fitness routine. I want to add weights and yoga, so I am going to get a calendar and establish a routine.
10. The recipe program I am using for the cookbook has a menu planner and a calendar. I am going to start using them.

That's all for now. I truly do feel that something has shifted for the coming year. I hope so. Last year just seemed so tumultuous for everyone.